Small businesses have always been an easy target for cybercriminals as they often lack the resources and skills to protect their systems and they are increasingly becoming part of the vulnerable sector. Symantec’s 2013 Internet Security threat report has showed that small businesses represented 30% of reported attacks. However, the number is likely to be larger given their lack of reporting problems.
To help SMBs deal with the problem, Symantec has released the Norton Small Business cybersecurity solution which is more a suite of tools than a single piece of software. Of course, many might take a jaundiced view of Symantec telling them they need tools such as anti-virus after the much publicised statements of Symantec’s Vice President.
There is no exact definition of a small business so what does the term mean to Symantec? The answer is any organisation of less than 20 employees, which is reassuring compared to IBM, Microsoft etc who apparently regard a SMB as 200 seats, although in this day and age of multiple devices and BYOD, it is more accurate to say 20 devices. The licence can be upgraded to add support for more devices and you can move licences between devices. However, the process of install/uninstall/reinstall is hardly conducive to a coherent security policy.
There are three focuses for the solution: devices, management and support.
Devices
They are being flexible around pricing for each device and for an organisation, recognising that they may have multiple devices attached to the company network. Devices supported include PCs, Macs, Android, smartphones, tablets, iPhones and iPads.
While not every feature is supported on every device as you would expect Symantec have announced that both employee and corporate devices will be supported. This is great news as many small businesses support BYOD although it does open up the tax question and whether this could be seen as a benefit in kind.
Management
The suite also includes a management platform allowing companies to monitor devices within the organisation. This will give an overview of which devices might be infected and which are up to date with their protection. Antivirus is sometimes installed but unless it is activated and updated it provides no or little benefit, It is likely that employees will disable security to get around an immediate problem, not wise but often done.
For mobiles this includes Norton Mobile Insight app scanning technology, also a remote locking and wipe function. Adding simple Mobile Device Management to this platform is a smart move, though employers will need to be wary of annoying employees by wiping their devices, let alone some of the legal implications of doing this.
Support
As well as the SLA (Service level agreement ) Symantec offer direct support to employees and the company and also guarantee that any virus will be removed by their support team or money will be refunded for the remainder of the subscription. This is an interesting business model as there is no compensation as such, just the ability to continue receiving a product that has proven not to work free of charge.
Perhaps the largest benefit is that employees are able to contact Norton direct, reaching a human being to answer and resolve any support issues. Again it is not known what type of telephone line will be associated with this call, though it is unlikely to be a Free-phone number, so don’t call from your mobile phone. Those using the service will also have to give full access to their device to a remote worker who may be sited in another country, so we are not sure if this is a service that will be welcomed.
Is it expensive?
The MSRP is £79.99 annually to protect five devices, there are small discounts to increase the number but this eventually equates to £16 per device. The total cost per employee will obviously depend upon the number of devices each employee has, the cost will climb quickly. Norton are also selling this through partners so it will be interesting to see what price the market actually settles at, MSRP is not force upon all retailers and some will no doubt reduce this
Vision
Symantec believe that small businesses will benefit from this solution. Orla Murphy, EMEA Small Business Strategist for Symantec said at launch “Running a small business is hard work, but Symantec wants to make securing it the easy part.”
Powered by Symantec Insight and SONAR behaviour-based technology, Symantec want small businesses to feel safer with the always-on protection and a 100 percent assurance that a virus can be removed by a Symantec service representative – or the “refund” mentioned above.